


I Don't Know About Second Chances at Love

by bandable



Series: skz works [7]
Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst and Fluff, Arranged Marriage, Childhood Friends, Cute, Fluff, Growing Up Together, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, Light Angst, M/M, Marriage, Modern Royalty, Prince Hyunjin, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-23
Updated: 2018-05-23
Packaged: 2019-05-10 09:03:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14734022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bandable/pseuds/bandable
Summary: Hwang Hyunjin is a prince. Han Jisung is the son of one of his maids. The two grow up together.But, nothing's ever quite that simple.aka; that royalty au I wrote even though it's overdone. Because, Prince Hyunjin guys, come on.





	I Don't Know About Second Chances at Love

**Author's Note:**

  * For [disstrack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disstrack/gifts).



> okay!! hi! i'm super happy with how this fic turned out, and so i'm really hoping that you all enjoy it too! i spent about three days writing this and it turned into the longest one shot i've written! (almost 11k!) 
> 
> this is a birthday fic for [disstrack](https://archiveofourown.org/users/disstrack/pseuds/disstrack)! i'm a little late but i hope you like this anyway jinn <3
> 
> aLSO huge s/o to [chewy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chewhy/pseuds/chewhy) for reading this and giving me feedback and leaving cute comments. i love you!
> 
> i hope that you all enjoy this fic!!

Hyunjin was born exactly one hundred and twenty-eight days before Jisung. He does not remember a single day of his life in which Jisung was not by his side, and doesn’t want to imagine one in the future when he’s not there, either. Jisung was one of the very few people he knew that treated him as  _ Hyunjin _ rather than  _ Prince  _ Hyunjin. He was such close friends with Jisung that if someone were to ask him what home felt like, the only thing—or, well,  _ person— _ that comes to mind would be Jisung.

 

Jisung’s mother was a much loved maid in the royal family. She had been Hyunjin’s mother’s handmaiden for years to the point that they were more best friends than handmaiden and princess. When his mother got married, Jisung’s mother was one of the few staff members that got to stay under the new rulers. Both had been over the moon when Jisung’s mother had gotten pregnant just a few short months after Hyunjin; they couldn’t wait for their children to grow up together. (Shh, don’t tell anyone, but both had been quietly hoping for one of them to have a girl and the other a boy, for a hopeful arranged marriage in the future.)

 

Jisung didn’t become a constant in Hyunjin’s life right off the bat, of course. When they were both babies, Jisung was taken care of by his father (who had garnered injuries years before that left him incapable of almost any type of work) while Hyunjin was taken care of by his parents and many other nannies and servants and maids. It wasn’t until Jisung’s father passed away when the boys were just barely three years old that Jisung was  _ always _ with Hyunjin. Jisung’s mother still had duties and could not always watch over him, so Hyunjin and Jisung were both put under the care of another maid for a good portion of their childhood years.

 

-

 

“Hyunjin, Jisung, please sit down and do your maths or else I’ll have to send you to separate rooms!” Their tutor, Chan, exclaims exasperated.

 

Hyunjin giggles, “I  _ am _ doing my maths.” He points out.

 

Jisung giggles too, “Yeah! We  _ are _ doing our maths.”

 

The two were, in fact, not doing their maths. Instead they had swapped papers and were doodling cats and small faces and flowers all over the paper. Chan rubs his temples and takes a deep breath, the two were only six but already such nightmares. He leans over the table and gently switches their papers back. “I may be older than you two, but I’m not blind yet. Come on, if you two finish your maths sheet I’ll let you take a snack break.” He tries and bribes.

 

Hyunjin sits back in his chair, thinking. Jisung glances at him before copying his stance. “Can we have animal crackers?” He asks.

 

“And apple juice?” Jisung adds excitedly.

 

Chan over dramatically pretends to think. “Hmmm… animal crackers  _ and  _ apple juice? That’s a pretty intense demand don’t you think?” Both boys break out into fits of giggles over Chan’s dramatic scene, “It might take some convincing but I think it could be manageable! Only, of course, if you two do your maths.”

 

Jisung picks up his pencil and quickly goes to answer the first problem. Hyunjin, however, hesitates. “You promise?” He pushes.

 

Chan laughs, rubbing his hand through Hyunjin’s hair. “Yeah, I promise,”

 

Hyunjin turns back to his paper and Chan gets up and stretches. He tells the two to stay there while he goes and gets their snack. The two work silently for a few moments before Jisung turns his paper towards Hyunjin. “Hyunjinnie, did I do this right?”

 

Hyunjin looks at the problem that Jisung was pointing to. It takes him only a few moments to realize that he doesn’t know how to do the problem either, but he didn’t want to tell Jisung that! Jisung thought that Hyunjin knew how to do it, he couldn’t let him down and tell him that he didn’t! So, instead, he pretends to think for a moment. “Hmm… I think so.”

 

Jisung grins so brightly at Hyunjin, that he’s glad he pretended to know the answer to the problem. 

 

Hyunjin turns back to his paper, and doesn’t notice Jisung sighing and putting his pencil down. “Hyunjin, can I tell you something?” He asks.

 

Hyunjin looks up, small eyebrows furrowed. “Okay.”

 

“I… I’m not very good at math. Or school.” Jisung admits, “Channie keeps telling me that I’m doing well and learning a lot but I’m pretty sure I’m just stupid.” 

 

Hyunjin sputters, “You’re not stupid!” He exclaims, pout gracing his face.

 

Jisung folds his arms, an identical pout on his face. “But I don’t understand anything Channie tries to teach us!” 

 

Hyunjin thinks for a second. “Well--well. If you’re stupid, then that makes me even  _ stupider _ !”

 

Jisung lets out a noise of surprise, “You’re not stupid!” 

 

Somewhere in the next few seconds, the situation escalates. Hyunjin has always been a sensitive child, not used to people disagreeing with him, as he was the  _ prince _ . Jisung, on the other hand, had been through a lot of trauma at a young age, and didn’t always know how to deal with his emotions. So, as both were upset, and young, the anger quickly turned to tears.

 

Chan almost has a heart attack when he comes back in the room--animal crackers and apple juice on a tray--and sees Hyunjin and Jisung sitting in the place he left them, but both crying almost…  _ hysterically _ over something.

 

“Hey, hey!” He exclaims, setting the tray down as gently as he can in his panicked state and rushing over to the two, “What’s wrong? What happened? Is someone hurt?”

 

Hyunjin snuffles loudly, and coughs, “Jisungie called himself stupid!” He accuses.

 

Jisung lets out a sad sound and rubs his nose, “Well--well Hyunjinnie called himself stupid too!” 

 

Chan allows himself to breathe, glad that no one was hurt and that no actual damage had been done. He lets out a small laugh as he grabs the napkins off of the tray he brought in and wipes the duo’s face as they slowly calm down. “Well, what would you guys say if I told you  _ neither  _ of you were stupid?”

 

Jisung sniffles again, “Really?”

 

Chan throws the napkins away, “Would I ever lie to you two?” He points out, “You two are the smartest six year olds in the entire  _ kingdom _ .”

 

Hyunjin giggles, “The entire kingdom?”

 

“Yeah!” Chan nods firmly, “You’re way more advanced than I was when I was your age.”

 

Jisung laughs loudly, his usual bright smile taking place on his face again. “We’re smarter than you!” He exclaims.

 

Chan fakes being offended, “Hey! I said when I was that young! Not now!”

 

Hyunjin laughs loudly too, “No, we’re smarter than you!”

 

Chan sighs, “Well, I guess that means  _ I’ll _ just eat all the animal crackers myself.”

 

The two boys stop laughing in an instant, “No!” Jisung cries at the same time Hyunjin exclaims, “But you have to share!”

 

Chan laughs, “Alright, alright, I guess it would be a  _ bit _ much if I ate them all myself. I think I could share a few.”

 

That was the first time that Jisung made Hyunjin cry, and the first time Hyunjin made Jisung cry. However, it wouldn’t be the last.

 

-

 

The first time that Jisung really realized that Hyunjin was royalty and had royal duties and was famous was when Jisung’s mother thought it would be good for him to go to a public school for a little while. She thought it would be good for him to have other friends, and even if he objected vehemently to leaving Hyunjin, she was a bit worried the two were becoming a bit  _ too  _ dependent on the other.

 

So, the summer before Jisung’s ninth birthday, she enrolls him in a local elementary school. On his first day, he cried the entire way to school, begging her to let him stay home, but alas, she refused.

 

It was also the first time Jisung realized how mean other kids could be.

 

Public school wasn’t all bad, of course. Jisung enjoyed parts of it, like playing outside on the playground and reading books in the big library that the school had. Some of the kids were really nice, too, especially a kid who went by Felix. He had transferred from another  _ country _ and had a birthday the day after Jisung, so they automatically became best friends. They would play on the swings together, and during lunch they would swap snacks and drinks because despite Jisung not liking fruit snacks his mother continued to pack them for him.

 

It was about two months into Jisung’s time at public school when the event occurred. Felix and him were sitting at the table, surrounded by other kids in their grade, during lunch. As they were all only eight, they didn’t talk much about their outside lives, but the topic of houses had come up, and, well, Jisung  _ was _ only eight. He didn’t realize that Hyunjin was a Prince and that he was living with actual royalty.

 

“My house is pretty big!” Felix had told him, “It sits up on a hill and I even have my own room here! I didn’t have that before.” 

 

Jisung smiles. “There’s a lot of rooms in my house! I don’t even know what’s in most of them.” He thought hard, “A lot of old junk probably.”

 

“How many rooms?” Another student had asked curiously.

 

“I… I don’t know. It’s a big house and a lot of people live there! It’s on a hill too, but it overlooks the entire kingdom. There’s even a big room where people will come talk to my friend’s Dad about their problems and he sits in a big chair at the end of a table.”

 

Felix stared at him in awe, but the other students looked at him disbelieving, “That doesn’t sound real.” One said, “It sounds like you’re describing the King’s house.”

 

Jisung stops, his food halfway to his mouth. “Yeah!” He says happily, “My mom works for them! Hyunjin is my best friend.”

 

Felix looks like he wants to object and claim that  _ he  _ was Jisung’s best friend, but other kids beat him to talking. One laughs loudly, the first kid starts talking again, “You think we’d believe that? You’re a liar!” 

 

Jisung furrows his eyebrows. Why would he lie? “No, I’m not! I’m telling the truth. Hyunjin and I have grown up together! We used to be tutored by Chan all the time.”

 

More kids were listening now, most of them laughing at Jisung. Jisung could feel his face flush, and tears well up in his eyes. Why were they laughing at him? He was telling the truth! Hyunjin  _ was  _ his best friend and they did grow up together. Why would he lie about that? “I bet you actually live in a box under a bridge!” A kid jokes, and the rest of them laugh harder.

 

Felix looks at Jisung, confusion on his face. “I’m telling the truth!” Jisung cries angrily.

 

“You  _ wish _ you were royalty like Prince Hyunjin,” The first kid says again. “You’re just a stupid commoner like the rest of us!”

 

Jisung pushes himself away from the table, hot tears sliding down his face as he runs away. He doesn’t even see Felix push his food away, and sit uncomfortably at the table as the rest of the kids continue to laugh and poke fun at Jisung and his “lies”. He looks like he wants to run after Jisung, but he spots a teacher following after him, and figures it’s best to stay put. He’s confused, though, he doesn’t  _ think _ Jisung was lying, why would he? He would have to do a little digging to see if he was because he didn’t like all these people laughing at his friend.

 

Jisung ends up going home that day, being almost unconsolable in the bathroom that they had to call his mom to come pick him up.

 

When Jisung returns the next day, the kids had all forgotten about him and his ‘lying’. Except Felix. 

 

Felix comes up to him during their first recess. “Do you really live with Prince Hyunjin?” He demands.

 

Jisung drops his head. “You think I’m lying too, don’t you?” 

 

“No.” Felix says, sitting next to him on the steps to the wooden playground that no one played on anymore, opting for the new shiny one, “But I wanted to just make sure.”

 

“I’m not lying!” Jisung says quickly. “I do! My mom works for the Queen, and so we live there too. My mom wanted me to come to public school so I would make more friends, but you’re the only one who’s nice to me.”

 

Felix puts a hand on his shoulder, “It’s okay.” He says, “One day, they’ll all find out you’re telling the truth and then  _ they’ll _ feel stupid for making fun of you!”

 

Jisung smiles, and allows Felix to drag him over to the swings.

 

-

 

At home, Jisung had started to talk more and more about Felix and Hyunjin did not like it at all. Whenever Hyunjin asks questions about Jisung’s time at school, Felix is always mentioned. He tells Hyunjin that they eat lunch together and that Felix helps him with his math and his English (he lived in Australia! He’s so cool!) and how nice Felix is to him, unlike the other kids. The worst part of it all is that Jisung had started to call  _ Felix _ his best friend! Hyunjin was his best friend!

 

It all comes to a peak one day when Jisung rushes into the study where Hyunjin was trying to finish a math worksheet. “Hyunjinnie guess what!” He exclaims excitedly, sliding into the chair across from Hyunjin at the table.

 

“What?” He asks, looking up to see Jisung smiling more happy than he had ever seen him before.

 

“I asked my mom and she asked your mom and, and, Felix asked his mom, and so--so--Felix is coming over tomorrow for a sleepover!” Jisung claps excitedly at the end of his statement, breathing heavily.

 

Hyunjin drops his pencil, staring at the other boy in shock. “What?” He asks, feeling like his entire little eight year old world was crashing down.

 

“Yeah!” He says taking his homework out of his bag, “We get to do our homework together and Mom said she was going to order pizza for us, and he gets to stay in my room and we’re gonna watch movies and eat candy! It’s gonna be awesome!” 

 

Hyunjin suddenly feels really sad. This wasn’t just his house, obviously, but it sounded like Felix and Jisung were going to have a lot of fun. Without him. Even though he lived there too! Was he going to have to do his school work by himself and eat the gross healthy food his mom would make and sleep in his own room by himself why they got to stay up? It wasn’t fair! Why don’t him and Jisung get to do those things? Why did Jisung even have to go to public school and meet Felix. Felix was taking him away from Hyunjin! It wasn’t okay.

 

“Oh.” Hyunjin says, instead of voicing any of his thoughts. “That’s cool.”

 

Jisung pouts at Hyunjin’s lack of enthusiasm. “Aren’t you excited?” 

 

Hyunjin picks up his pencil, not making eye contact. “Why? He’s your friend.”

 

Jisung makes a noise. “Aren’t you going to hang out with us too?” He asks, suddenly sounding dejected.

 

Hyunjin’s head snapped up. “Oh. I… I thought you wouldn’t want to hang out with me if Felix was here. I didn’t think I was… invited.”

 

Jisung grins letting out his trademark loud laugh. “Of course you are! This is your house! Besides! I want my two best friends to finally meet.”

 

Hyunjin cocks his head. “Two? You can have two best friends?”

 

Jisung calms down a bit, furrowing his eyebrows. “Why not? Who says I can only have one? You’re my best friend but so is Felix.” 

 

Hyunjin finally allows a small smile to grace his face, “Oh. Okay. You’re my best friend too.”

 

Jisung grins. “Good!” 

 

A comfortable silence falls on the two as they work on their own school work quietly.

 

-

 

Friday comes quickly, and Hyunjin is sitting by the front door waiting for Jisung to come home. Even though he was bringing Felix, who Hyunjin had already decided he didn’t like, he was excited for pizza and candy and movies. 

 

The door finally opens after what felt like hours of Hyunjin sitting there, even though it had probably only been a few minutes. The two boys were loud as they entered the house, but Felix quickly fell silent as he took in the house. “Woah.” He says, “It really is big.”

 

Jisung quickly spots Hyunjin, “Hyunjinnie!” He says happily, and drags Felix’s attention to the other boy, “This is Felix!”

 

Felix quickly bows, “It’s nice to meet you, Prince Hyunjin!” Felix says.

 

Hyunjin furrowed his eyebrows. He was used to older people treating him this way, but Felix was the same age as him and Jisung! He could just call him Hyunjin. “Hi,” He says and then puts out a hand for a handshake and Felix shyly stands up and takes it, “You can just call me Hyunjin.”

 

“Oh.” Felix says, face flushing, “Okay.”

 

Hyunjin takes a moment to look at Felix. He was shorter than both him and Jisung and had freckles all over his cheeks and nose. His hair was dark, but not as dark as Hyunjin’s own hair. He was wearing a hoodie that seemed to be about a size too big, and didn’t  _ look _ eight. He seemed much younger, and Hyunjin thought it was cute.

 

“Come on.” Jisung says, starting toward the hallway, “Mom said we had to do homework if we wanted to have pizza for dinner.”

 

Hyunjin grins, “Okay! I’m almost done with mine. Chan was nice and didn’t give me a ton to do today!”

 

Felix follows behind the two, looking at everything like they were the wonders of the world. Everything was so big and so grand, and he had never been around royalty before. It was crazy! And the  _ prince _ had told him he could call him by his name. His mother was never going to believe this! (She hardly believed that Felix was actually going to their house until the  _ Queen _ had called her to make sure it was okay that Felix spent the night with them.)

 

When the three had reached the study, Chan was already sitting at the table, animal crackers and apple juice set out for three instead of two, like usual. “Heyo, kiddos!” He says cheerfully.

 

Jisung and Hyunjin groan at the rhyme, and Felix lets out a tiny giggle. “Hi!” He says to Chan, “I’m Felix!”

 

Chan cocks his head, “Oh!” He says, “Your accent! I’m from Australia too,” He says in English.

 

Felix grins wider than he had before, and the two began to speak in English to each other while the three eight year olds climbed onto their seats. 

 

Hyunjin and Jisung shared a look, only catching onto a few of the words the two were speaking. They finally switched back into Korean, and there was almost a collective sigh of relief when they could understand again. “Alright.” Chan says, “Everyone has to finish their homework before you’re allowed to play, okay? And I’ll be checking to make sure you’re not just writing down random things, Hyunjin.” He says pointedly and Hyunjin flushes a little. “If any of you need help, let me know, including you Felix.”

 

The three agree, and turn to their work wanting to finish quickly and go play.

 

Hyunjin quickly takes back any thought he had about not liking Felix as they’re settling down to watch My Neighbor Tortoro that night. Felix was  _ so _ cool! He could speak two languages fluently because he spoke Korean at home and English at school. He also could make a noise that sounded identical to a mosquito, and like Hyunjin, he danced! Jisung was really excited that his two best friends were getting along, and Felix was ecstatic that  _ the _ prince liked him! Hyunjin definitely didn’t hate Jisung going to public school, especially because when he asked if Felix wanted to come over to play more often, Felix agreed with a dramatic nod of his head. 

 

Both Jisung’s and Hyunjin’s mothers were happy to see their kids make friends outside of each other, knowing that them being too dependent on each other was not healthy. They couldn’t be happier that they had found a common friend in someone as kind and sweet as Felix.

 

-

 

Jisung continued to go to public school while Hyunjin stayed and got tutored by Chan. Felix, however, had become a constant in both of their lives despite him not seeing Hyunjin as much as he saw Jisung. They had become the ‘three musketeers’ as Chan called the trio. They would have sleepovers every two weeks and would even go bowling or to theme parks together. Once, Hyunjin was even allowed to go to Jisung’s and Felix’s school fair! (With some security, obviously.)

 

(That was also the day where all of the other kids believed Jisung. It was also the day that Jisung realized how  _ desperate _ people could be for fame and royalty as suddenly everyone who had ever been rude to him and Felix were suddenly very nice and wanted to be friends with them as well.)

 

Their lives were really good for a long time. There weren’t any terrible mishaps, and it seemed like everyone was happy.

 

However, as Hyunjin and Jisung neared their thirteenth birthdays some things began to change. 

There were more royal duties expected of Hyunjin as he began to be taught the politics of the kingdom and who were their allies and who they weren’t allies with but on good terms and so on and so forth. Hyunjin began to become more distant.

 

Jisung began to realize this one afternoon when he came home from school and for the fourth time that week, Hyunjin wasn’t in the study to do homework with him. Chan told him his lessons had got moved to the mornings so he could focus with his Dad in the afternoons. “Where is he?” Jisung had asked.

 

“I think up in the library,” Chan answered, “But Jisung, maybe you should just leave him alone for now?”

 

“I’m just going to check on him and make sure he’s okay. I haven’t seen him in a while.”

 

Chan tried to stop him, but Jisung was determined, and made his escape to the library. There, Hyunjin was sitting in a chair, multiple books open around him. “Hey!” Jisung says happily when he spotted him, and Hyunjin jumps looking up at him.

 

He had obviously not been getting enough sleep, but Jisung didn’t mention it as he sat across from him. “Oh, hi, Jisung.” Hyunjin grins at him, “It feels like I haven’t seen you in forever!”

 

“I know,” Jisung sighs, “I know that you’re the prince and all, but I miss hanging out with you.”

 

Hyunjin sets his pencil down, a sad look falling over his face. “I know. Me too.” 

 

“Uh, Felix and I are going to hang out tonight! We’re going bowling, I think. Do you want to come?” Jisung offers hopefully.

 

Hyunjin’s face lights up. “Yes! That sounds like a lo—” He cuts himself off, and then slumps in on himself, “I. I can’t.” He says quieter this time.

 

Jisung’s face falls too. “Oh. Why not?”

 

“There’s some banquet tonight, or something. Dad wants me to come and see how they run so I know for the future.” Hyunjin explains, “I don’t think I could get out of it even if I was vomiting, let alone just because I wanted to go bowling.”

 

Jisung sighs sadly. “Alright.” He mutters, “Maybe next time, then.”

 

“Yeah.” Hyunjin nods firmly, “Next time.”

 

Chan appears in the doorway, then, and drags Jisung back to the study so that he could do his homework and Hyunjin could work on… whatever he was doing, in peace.

 

Jisung meets up with Felix that night and they go bowling. It wasn’t as fun as they had expected, especially not when halfway through Felix asks, “Where’s Hyunjin these days?”

 

Jisung groans loudly, “Who knows?” He replies, “His Dad is forcing him to be involved more with the kingdom and politics and stuff, saying he needs to know this stuff for the future. I don’t ever see him anymore, and it gets lonely without him.”

 

Felix puts a hand on Jisungs shoulder, trying to comfort him. “That sucks, Jisung, I’m sorry. You can always call me if you feel lonely! I’ll hang out with you.”

 

Jisung and Felix became closer and closer as time progressed, because of Hyunjin constantly having other things to do. Hyunjin tried not to feel jealous when he found out that Felix and Jisung would go out to eat after school to do homework together or that Jisung would talk to Felix until nine or ten at night or that it was now  _ Felix  _ that Jisung went to when he was hurt, lonely, or just needed to talk to someone. He tried not to feel like he was being replaced, but it got harder every time Jisung came home, a smile on his face, telling him about what him and Felix had done that day.

 

Jisung tried not to show how sad he was that Hyunjin wasn’t in the picture as much anymore by putting on a fake smile whenever he was around him. He took Felix up on the ‘call me when you’re lonely’ offer, and hung out with him whenever he could. It was better than being at home by himself every night because Hyunjin was too busy.

 

Jisung didn’t think that him hanging out with Felix more would  _ mean  _ anything until one night… it all came crashing down.

 

It was about two weeks after Jisung’s and Felix’s thirteenth birthdays. They were out late working on homework, and decided to take a detour through the park to just talk. 

 

Their conversation were all trivial things at first. They talked about how much they disliked their homeroom teacher and if they were going to go to the big football game in a few weeks, or if the cheerleaders were really as cute as everyone thought they were. 

 

Then Felix dropped a bomb. “Do you… do you ever think about guys the same way you think about girls sometimes?”

 

Jisung looks over at Felix who was sitting a few feet away from him on the grass. “What do you mean?” He asks.

 

Felix takes a shaky breath, shrugging slightly. “I… I don’t know.” He laughs breathlessly, “We were just talking about the cheerleaders and I just, I dunno, sometimes think that maybe guys are… are better than them.”

 

Jisung is quiet for a moment. He didn’t mean to make Felix scared by his silence, but he had just never heard his own thoughts voiced out loud like that before. “I’m sorry.” Felix says quickly after a few seconds, “Did that make you uncomfortable? I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry. Please don’t tell anyone!”

 

Jisung stops him, “No! No! I’m not uncomfortable! I was just… I was just trying to figure out how to say that I felt the same way sometimes. I didn’t know how to voice it out loud and you… you did. I won’t tell anyone if you won’t.”

 

Felix nods firmly and the two fall into a slightly awkward silence. “How…” Jisung starts, “How do you think we find out if we--if we really feel the same way about guys that we’re supposed to about girls?”

 

Felix shrugs, picking out the grass from the ground. “I dunno,” He mutters, “Probably kiss a guy?”

 

Jisung stares at Felix who looks up at him, and then flushes. “I didn’t mean me--I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you—”

 

Jisung cuts him off, “Oh! No, no, that’s not why I was looking at you! I didn’t mean  _ I  _ wanted to kiss you!”

 

“You don’t?” Felix asks suddenly, and looking back, Jisung could see Felix was joking to try and lighten the mood, but it flew over his head at the time.

 

Jisung stops. The sun had almost completely set by now and he was due home soon. This wasn’t how he thought this night was going to go. “I mean… do  _ you _ want to?” He asks.

 

Felix flushes again, not making eye contact. “Yeah? Maybe! I don’t know… Maybe we should try just so we know?”

 

It’s quiet for another moment and then Jisung puts a hand on Felix’s shoulder. Felix looks up and blushes bright red at how close Jisung was. It only lasted a moment, could barely be considered a kiss, but both thirteen year olds basically flew apart, the distance between them suddenly much larger than before. Both of their cheeks’ were burning red, and despite the kiss not even really being a kiss, both of them were breathing heavier. “Okay.” Jisung says finally.

 

“Yeah.” Felix breathes.

 

The ‘ _ Yeah, I DEFINITELY like guys the way I’m supposed to like girls _ .’ was left unspoken.

 

-

 

“Where were you?” Hyunjin asks when Jisung comes in. 

 

He had been sitting in the living room, a book open in his lap and the lamp on. It felt strangely like a father demanding why his child was home so late. “Oh, I was out with Felix.”

 

Hyunjin tries to choke down the spark of jealousy that flares in his stomach at the fact that they were hanging out without him again. It was fine. Jisung and Felix were friends before Felix and Hyunjin were, and even if Hyunjin and Jisung were friends before any of that, it made sense for them to be hanging out so much. Especially because Hyunjin couldn’t be around as often anymore, even though he wished he could.

 

“Oh. Did you guys do anything fun?” He asks.

 

Jisung shrugs, “Nah. We got food and did homework. We went on a walk in the park and talked a little. I kissed him. Nothing new.” He says quickly.

 

Hyunjin almost misses it. “Ah, okay, just the us-- _ what _ ?”

 

Jisung jumps. He hadn’t even  _ realized _ he had said that until it was too late. “What?” He asks back, just as intelligently.

 

“What did you say?” Hyunjin asks again. 

 

Maybe he had just misheard! There was no way that Felix and Jisung kissed.

 

“Uh. We got food and did homework. We went on a walk in the park and talked a little. Nothing new.” Jisung repeats, leaving out the ‘I kissed him’, hoping Hyunjin wouldn’t question it.

 

Hyunjin shakes his head, “No, no there was another thing. You said another thing after you talked. What was it?”

 

Jisung felt like he had been cornered. Of course, he could have just lied and said that he didn’t say anything else and Hyunjin had misheard. Had he pushed harder, Hyunjin would have eventually accepted it, but Jisung was never a very good liar. “I kissed him.” He mutters.

 

Hyunjin heard it loud and clear that time. “Oh.” He says intelligently, but feels like crying and screaming and punching Felix all at the same time.

 

“Yeah.”Jisung says, not making eye contact with Hyunjin.

 

“That’s… that’s cool.” Hyunjin says. “Are you two… dating?” 

 

Jisung chokes on his spit. “No! No… we were just… trying it out. To see.”

 

Hyunjin looks at him confused, eyebrows furrowed tightly. “To see?”

 

“I dunno, we were curious, I guess.” Jisung shrugs, face red still. “If it felt like how it felt to kiss a girl.”

 

It’s quiet for another moment before Hyunjin asks, “Did it?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

-

 

Jisung isn’t sure what he expected after him and Felix had kissed. It definitely wasn’t, a month later, for Felix to show up to their study hang out on a Saturday holding hands with another boy. They entered the cafe together, and Felix introduced the boy as “Seungmin, my boyfriend.”

 

Jisung is surprised that it didn’t hurt more. He went home and told Hyunjin that Felix had a boyfriend who was named Seungmin and really nice. Hyunjin tried to suppress a grin or tiny happy dance and said that Felix should bring Seungmin over and they could all hang out together.

 

It took a while before Hyunjin ever got the chance to meet, Seungmin however. In fact, it took  _ so _ long it wasn’t until Felix and Jisung’s conjoined fifteenth birthday party. His parents allowed him to go and he wasn’t expected to worry about anything ‘prince’ly for the entire day. It was basically a day of heaven to the boy.

 

“Hi!” Hyunjin had said excitedly when he had spotted Jisung, Felix, and another boy in the park that their party was being held.

 

“Hyunjinnie!” Felix grins, standing up and hugging him tightly, “I feel like it’s been years since I’ve seen you!”

 

Hyunjin laughs and hugs him back, “It’s only been two weeks, Felix.”

 

“That’s basically forever,” Jisung adds, hugging Hyunjin as well.

 

“Oh!” Felix says suddenly, “This is Seungmin.” 

 

Seungmin smiles at Hyunjin and bows, just as Felix had the first time he met Hyunjin four years ago. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Prince Hyunjin.” He says.

 

Hyunjin chokes back a laugh. “You can just call my Hyunjin,” He says, “We’re all the same age. No need for all of the formalities.” 

 

Seungmin straightens up, a slight blush on his face. “Oh. Okay.” He breathes, “Then it’s nice to meet you, Hyunjin.”

 

“You too,”

 

Felix didn’t introduce Seungmin as his boyfriend, knowing that he already knew, and unsure if it was appropriate to do so. However, it was obvious, as the two stuck close together, holding hands, under the table, and stealing glances at each other when they thought no one was looking.

 

Towards the end of the party, Hyunjin finds himself alone with Jisung on the other side of the park. He could see Felix and Seungmin sitting at a table talking and smiling at each other while their moms talked to each other. Almost everyone else had left, and all that was left as the sun set were a few deflating balloons and streamers. 

 

“They’re cute together.” Hyunjin says, watching Seungmin laugh so brightly he fell into Felix’s side.

 

Jisung grins, “Yeah, they really are. I’m glad they met each other, they fit together really well.”

 

Hyunjin nods, leaning against the tree they were sitting under. “I miss this.” Hyunjin says sadly.

 

Jisung hums, “What do you mean?”

 

“I miss hanging out with you. I miss hanging out with Felix too, of course, but I miss how much time we used to spend together. I know we live together and we still see each other at least every few days, but… I don’t know. It feels different now.” He explains and shrugs.

 

Jisung sighs, “Yeah. I didn’t want to mention it and make you feel bad because it’s not like you have a choice with how much you’re away. But… I miss it too. I’m glad that you feel the same way and that I didn’t freak you out a few years ago with the… the thing.”

 

Hyunjin looks over at Jisung confused, but Jisung wasn’t looking at him, instead staring at the ground picking the grass out of the dirt. (Unbeknownst to Hyunjin, this was almost an identical scene to the one two years ago when Jisung had kissed Felix.)

 

“What thing?” Hyunjin asks, finally.

 

“The kiss,” Jisung mutters quietly.

 

Hyunjin laughs quietly, “Why would that have freaked me out?” 

 

Jisung sighs in relief, laughing as well, “I don’t know… I just thought maybe you thought it was weird that I liked guys and felt uncomfortable around me.” 

 

“That’s really fucking stupid, Jisung.” Hyunjin said, “Especially because I like guys too.”

 

He says the last sentence so quickly, Jisung almost misses it, but no, he definitely heard right. “Oh.” Jisung responds intelligently, his face flushing for some weird reason. “That’s… that’s cool.”

 

Hyunjin looks back over to Felix and Seungmin. Seungmin was talking about something but wasn’t looking at Felix, and Felix was looking at him like Seungmin held the entire world in his hands. Hyunjin sighs, “It sucks I’m always cooped up in the house and destined to marry the person my parents want me too. I wish I could meet someone who would look at me like that.”

 

“Maybe someone already does and you just don’t know it.” Jisung points out.

 

Hyunjin whips his head to look at Jisung, who’s staring at him a small, shy smile on his face, cheeks bright red. “What do you mean?” Hyunjin asks, a similar blush growing on his face.

 

Jisung doesn’t make eye contact. “Nothing.”

 

Hyunjin doesn’t push Jisung, and looks back to Felix. He can feel Jisung move beside him, but doesn’t move. It’s quiet for a second, and Hyunjin is confused because he can feel Jisung leaning towards him. He turns his head, and lets out a squeak when Jisung, who was probably planning on just kissing him on the cheek, kisses him on his mouth. 

 

Jisung pulls away faster than he did when he had kissed Felix two years ago. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to do that! I was just trying to—I was trying to—”

 

Hyunjin grins at the stuttering boy, and leans over and kisses him quickly back to shut him up. Jisung lets out an identical squeak to the one that Hyunjin had. “It’s okay,” Hyunjin said, cheeks on fire, “I didn’t mind.”

 

-

 

Jisung and Hyunjin don’t ever actually  _ talk _ about the kisses. It’s not that they didn’t want to, it’s just that there was never really a chance for them to. They got home that night, and Hyunjin was instantly called by his father to come to his room and then Jisung didn’t see him for a week because his father had taken him out of town with him and his mother for some political event. The next time he saw Hyunjin, it seemed to be a mutual, silent agreement that it would be better to just not talk about it when they had so little time together anyway.

 

Things almost seem to go back to normal after that, as Hyunjin is allowed a bit more free time. However, they spent this free time with Felix and Seungmin more often than not, as Felix and Seungmin never got to see Hyunjin as it was. 

 

Felix, Seungmin, and Jisung hung out all the time still, however. They had become the new three musketeers, but no one would ever say that to Hyunjin. Felix and Seungmin tried their hardest to never make Jisung feel like a third wheel, and Jisung wouldn’t let them. Things were okay. 

 

The next time Jisung and Hyunjin even  _ kind of  _  talk about the kisses is in April two years later.

 

“Are you and Seungmin going to prom together?” Jisung asks Felix one afternoon.

 

Seungmin and Felix were still going strong. Everyone around them had started to say that they were soul mates because of how early they started to date and the fact that they were  _ still _ together. Of course, Jisung knew that their relationship had ups and downs, just like any relationship, but both liked—loved—each other too much to let any argument ruin what they had built up together.

 

“Of course,” Felix says, “But you’re welcome to come with us if you want to!”

 

Jisung sighs, putting his head into his arms on top of the lunch table. “No. It’s okay, prom is for couples.” He explains, “I don’t want to take that from you two.”

 

Felix laughs, “You wouldn’t, you dumbass! But, if you’re worried about that… then just get a date.”

 

Jisung looks at Felix like he has four heads. “Wow, that’s simple isn’t it, Felix? Especially when there are so many out guys at our school! Even more so when  _ I’m _ not even really out to anyone.”

 

Felix sighs, “I mean, you’d have to put yourself out there if you wanted to get asked, Jisung.”

 

“Then I’ll stay home because I’m not doing that.” Jisung shrugs, as if that was the end of the conversation.

 

He should have known, though, that with Felix, it never was the end of a conversation if Felix didn’t say it was. “Alright, well, if you won’t put yourself out there, then just ask Hyunjin to go with you.”

 

Jisung chokes on his own spit, “I-I don’t like Hyunjin!”

 

Felix shrugs, “No one said you had to like him to ask him to go to prom with you. Besides, I know you like him. I saw you two kiss at our fifteenth birthday party.”

 

Jisung chokes again. “You saw that?! Why didn’t you say anything?” and then, “Wait! You and I kissed, and neither of us liked each other!”

 

“No, but that was because we were stupid thirteen year olds experimenting. Anyway, I didn’t say anything because it wasn’t my place to. Your and Hyunjin’s relationship is your guys’ business, but… you guys are really fucking slow at moving it along.”

 

“That’s because there’s nothing to move along!” Jisung defends.

 

“Please,” Felix says, “It was just one kiss, Jisung. You both kissed each other! And I see the way you two look at each other when the other one isn’t looking. It’s the same way I look at Seungmin. You like him, kiddo.”

 

Jisung chooses not to respond to what Felix says, and settles for, “Kiddo? I’m older than you!”

 

Felix scoffs, “Yeah, by a  _ day _ . Stop avoiding the topic at hand, Jisung! You like Hyunjin, and you’re going to ask him to prom, because he’ll say yes, and you’ll both have fun, and it’ll be perfect.”

 

“What if he  _ doesn’t  _ say yes?” Jisung asks quietly, though.

 

Felix shakes his head, “Hyunjin likes you just as much as you like him. Besides, even if he didn’t, he’d say yes anyway.”

 

Jisung knows that there’s no point in trying to fight with Felix when he gets an idea in his head, so he lets it go. He hoped that Felix would forget about it, but once again, he should have known better.

 

Especially not when he got home one day to Hyunjin grinning in the doorway—a sight he hadn’t seen since they were twelve. “What?” Jisung asks confused as he toes his shoes off.

 

“It took some convincing, but I convinced my parents to let me have a night to myself, and so I cam go to prom with you!” Hyunjin says excitedly.

 

Jisung has to force himself to breathe so he didn’t pass out in the foyer. “What?” He asks, hoping he doesn’t sound like he’s choked up, or that his face wasn’t  _ too _ red.

 

“Yeah! Felix texted me and said that you wanted to ask me but you weren’t sure if I would even be able to go… so I took the liberty of finding out, and I can go!”

 

Jisung finally finds it in himself to breathe. He doesn’t know if he wants to punch or hug Felix, but Hyunjin looks so excited that he gets to go to prom, that he fights all of that down. “That’s awesome! I can’t wait!” 

 

-

 

It turns out that Hyunjin didn’t say yes to going to prom necessarily because it was  _ Jisung _ asking, but more so that he wanted to have the prom experience because otherwise he wouldn’t get it.

 

Everything had gone great, so far. They had gotten matching bow-ties, and both their mothers took too many pictures. Hyunjin’s mother pulled Jisung aside, thanking him for asking Hyunjin to go, “I’m glad he has a friend that isn’t worried about the rumors and is more worried about letting Hyunjin be a normal teenager for a night.”  _ If only she knew _ .

 

They met up with Felix and Seungmin for pictures at the same park they had their fifteenth birthday party. After, they went for dinner, before arriving to prom fashionably late.

 

As they entered, though, Jisung wishes they had shown up early. Most people had already arrived, and Jisung should have  _ known _ that showing up with the Prince wouldn’t go unnoticed. In fact, when they entered the school gym, the two hundred and fifty people already there fell dead silent, so that the music was actually discernable and all eyes were on Jisung and Hyunjin.

 

After it set in that Jisung had shown up with the fucking  _ Prince _ , the gym fell into loud ‘whispers’, asking “are they dating?” and “I forgot they knew each other!” and “Hyunjin looks so good, I wish  _ I  _ was his date!”

 

It’s a little awkward at first, as the crowd parts and then centers around them as they dance. They try to enjoy themselves, but the second a slow song came on, Jisung says, “I’m going to use the restroom!” at the same time Hyunjin says, “I’m going to go get a drink!”

 

They could only avoid the slow dances for so long, though, especially with Felix and Seungmin there as well. After the third time of watching the two skit around each other when a slow song came on, they had taken it upon themselves to push them to dance together. 

 

It takes another twenty minutes for a slow song to start, but when it does, Jisung finds himself pushed into an empty hallway trying to escape from the gym. No one else is there, but he can still hear the music clearly because of how loud it was. Hyunjin is then pushed through the double doors a few seconds later and they can hear Felix yell, “Dance with each other you dumbasses!” From inside the gym.

 

Both of them blush, but Hyunjin holds out a hand. “Would you like to dance with me?”

 

Despite Jisung’s blush getting harsher, he takes Hyunjin’s hand and allows him to lead as they begin to dance in the empty, dark hallway. It’s silent for a moment, before Jisung takes a leap of faith, and breaks the silence. “Did… did you feel anything when we kissed two years ago?”

 

Hyunjin laughs a little, “That was so long ago,” He says, but it doesn’t sound mean, just nostalgic. “But… I—yeah. I did.”

 

Jisung lets out a loud breath of relief, “I… I did too.” 

 

Hyunjin grins, but neither of them say anything until the song is almost completely over. “Well, what do we do now?” Jisung asks.

 

Hyunjin doesn’t answer, and instead leans down and kisses Jisung  _ again _ . Jisung lets out a tiny squeak ( _ again _ ) before kissing him back.

 

When the song ends, they pull away, faces bright red as they seemed to permanently be when they were around each other. “I still feel something,” Jisung whispers.

 

“Me too.” Hyunjin whispers back.

 

An upbeat song begins, “Do you want to go back in?” Jisung asks Hyunjin.

 

Hyunjin hesitates. “I… I have to tell you something, actually.”

 

Jisung grins, “Yeah, what is it?”

 

It’s quiet, and Jisung feels his heart rate pick up. “Hyunjin… what is it?”  

 

“I didn’t want to tell you like this!” Hyunjin begins, “I swear! I didn’t even know until last week!”

 

Jisung cuts him off, hands shaking and heart beating wildly, terrified as to what Hyunjin was going to tell him. “Spit it out, Hyunjin!”

 

Hyunjin takes a deep breath, “My… my parents. They. They introduced me to a girl last week. Her name is Jiyoo, and she… she’s the girl I’m set to marry next year after my nineteenth birthday.”

 

Jisung suddenly feels like he can’t breathe. The high he was on suddenly came crashing down to a lower low than it had ever been. “I…”

 

“I wanted to just enjoy tonight and tell you later, but then I got so caught up in everything and then I kissed you, and realized how much I… I still liked you, and I started to think how much it was going to suck because I had to marry someone else, but I wanted to tell you so we could enjoy the time we had before it happened!”

 

Jisung coughs, trying to ignore the burning behind his eyes as the sadness quickly turned to anger. “You’re a fucking douchebag!” Jisung exclaims, and Hyunjin recoils a step back in shock.

 

“What?” 

 

“You-you—” Jisung was so heated, he could hardly breathe, still. “You knew I liked you still! You knew that I had feelings for you, and you still decided to continue with our plans to go to prom after you knew I asked you,  _ because I liked you _ . And then you fucking kiss me, and get my hopes up and tell me that you still like me! Then you drop this fucking nuclear bomb and say that you’re getting married after your nineteenth birthday, but you wanted to be with me until then?” 

 

Hyunjin tries to speak, but Jisung wasn’t finished.

 

“How shitty is that, Hyunjin? Did you ever think how that would make me feel? You wanted me to spend a year with you, falling more in love with you than I already am and then just be  _ okay _ with you marrying someone else? Just like that?” Jisung scoffs, “I didn’t think you were that fucking stupid.”

 

“Jisung, I—” Hyunjin tries, but Jisung didn’t want to hear it.

 

“Thanks, but no thanks, Hyunjin. You’ve already officially broken my heart, I don’t want you to break it a second time.” Jisung says shaking his head and heads toward the double doors of the gym.

 

“Jisung, wait!” Hyunjin calls.

 

Jisung pauses, but Hyunjin doesn’t say anything. “That’s what I thought.” He shakes his head, “Enjoy your life with Jiyoo, Prince Hyunjin.” 

 

Hyunjin chokes, “Prince?!” He exclaims, having never heard Jisung call him Prince before.

 

Jisung allows himself to turn around one last time, “I think it’s better if our relationships stays strictly prince and commoner from now on.” Jisung explains, “Save us both anymore heartbreak.”

 

“But we’re best friends!” Hyunjin tries, tears burning the back of his eyes.

 

Jisung shakes his head, eyes watery, face sad. “No. We  _ were _ best friends. There’s a difference.”

 

Jisung ignores Hyunjin’s shaky cries of his name as he pulls the doors to the gym open, and allows tears to finally fall down his face. He can hear the song playing a bit better inside, and it’s some weird, English song. It’s not slow, but not fast, and Jisung can just make out the one point line enough that it makes him break down in sobs as he fights his way to where he can see Seungmin on the other side of the gym.  _ If you love me, let me go _ .

 

Seungmin drops the water he was holding when Jisung rushes up, tears running down his face, ugly sobs coming out of his mouth. “Jisung! What happened?” He exclaims, wrapping an arm around him and quickly leading him to the bathroom where he knew Felix was.

  
  


“I--I need to leave.” Jisung chokes out.

 

“Okay, okay, we’re going to go find Felix and then we’ll figure this out, okay?” Seungmin asks, “Where’s Hyunjin?”

 

Jisung lets out a loud sob at the mention of his name, and Seungmin wishes he could take it back, “I don’t wanna fucking see that asshole!” Jisung cries, as they enter the bathroom and Felix jumps from where he was throwing paper towels away.

 

When he sees Jisung crying, he instantly changes into ‘protective best friend mode’. “I’m going to punch the fucking prince!” 

 

-

 

Days pass quicker, it seemed, after prom. It’s about a month until Jisung even sees Hyunjin again, passing him in the hallway with a polite bow and a, “Morning, Prince Hyunjin,” before disappearing down the stairs.

 

Hyunjin doesn’t say anything, and just watches him go.

 

It’s an unusually hot day in October when Jisung meets Jiyoo for the first time. He was coming up the steps to the house as she was leaving. “Oh!” She exclaims, “Hi. I’m Jiyoo.” 

 

Jisung forces a smile, “It’s nice to meet you,” He reaches a hand out, “I’m Jisung.”

 

She smiles at him, “Oh! Hyunjin’s best friend. He’s told me a lot about you, it’s so great to finally put a face to a name.”

 

Jisung tries to ignore the butterflies in his stomach at the fact that Hyunjin still talks about him and calls him his best friend. “Ha, yeah, that’s me.” He says instead.

 

Her phone dings, and when she pulls it out, he can make out the name of the person messaging her. ‘ _ My Baby!’  _ with twelve hearts after it. He figures it’s Hyunjin, but she locks her phone and slides it into her pocket, “Sorry, I have to go, relationship duties!” And walks down the steps to a car in the driveway.

 

Jisung watches her go, eyebrows furrowed. He knew Hyunjin was inside, why was she saying relationship duties and  _ leaving _ ?

 

He tries to ignore it, and goes inside, and to his own room.

 

-

 

Christmas comes and passes. It’s two days after when Jisung comes to his room to see a present and a note sitting on his bed. There’s no name on any of it, so he assumes it’s from one of the maids or something and opens it.

 

Inside is a CD he’d been wanting for a while, and he smiles as he sets it aside. He then opens the note, and the smile falls as he recognizes the handwriting almost instantly.

 

_ Jisung- _

 

_ I have so much I want to say, and I’m stupid so it’s taken me over six months to do so. I’ll start off by saying I’m so fucking sorry. I’m sorry for being stupid, I’m sorry for ignoring how my actions would make you feel, and I’m sorry I didn’t reach out to you sooner. I’m just… I’m sorry. _

 

_ I know that probably doesn’t fix any of this. I don’t expect it to. But I want it to be a start. I want you to understand that almost everyday I dream of what we could be if I wasn’t born as Prince Hyunjin. I think about how our lives could have been different. How I could have been the one you kissed when you were thirteen, instead of Felix. How I could have been the one there for you for so many years. I think about it all of the time, and I fucking hate how I can’t do anything to change it. I hate how stuck I feel. _

 

_ Then I met Jiyoo. Before you rip this letter up and come and find me to punch me, PLEASE hear me out. I met Jiyoo, and realized how fucking stupid I was because she told me. I spilled everything to her one night. I know I shouldn’t have, and you probably hate me for that, but we talked a lot about it all. She told me the same thing that you told me: how inconsiderate I was and how I didn’t think about your feelings at all. _

 

_ That really hit me, and I cried in front of her that night. Me. I cried in front of her. I haven’t cried in front of someone since we were six and we cried because we called ourselves stupid. _

 

_ Jiyoo told me that same night that she had a girlfriend. She didn’t know when she was going to tell me and said that had she not told me, she was going to run away the night before our wedding. (I know. How insane?) After I told her about us, well, we came up with a plan. _

 

_ I only hope that you’ll forgive me and you’ll be willing to be apart of it.  _

 

_ I just… I like you and I want to make things right. _

 

_ No. I love you.  _

 

_ I, Hwang Hyunjin, am in love with you, Han Jisung. _

 

_ Please meet me in the garden on January 2nd at 9:15 PM if you’re willing to know more about our plan.  _

 

_ If… if you don’t show up, I’ll take that as a no and that you really don’t want to be around me or hear from me ever again.  _

 

_ -Hyunjin _

 

Jisung doesn’t even realize he’s crying until a tear drop falls onto the paper and causes some of the pen ink to run.

 

He grabs his phone and sends a picture of the letter to Seungmin and Felix with a caption of ‘what do I do??’

 

“You fucking go meet him on January 2nd you dumbass!” Felix responds.

 

-

 

January 2nd comes almost too quickly for his liking. Jisung shows up at 9:10, surprised to see Hyunjin already sitting there, a single pink carnation in his hand.

 

He stands up quickly when he spots Jisung. “Hi,” He breathes.

 

Jisung stops a solid five feet away from him. “Hi,” He responds.

 

Hyunjin holds out the flower, “I… I got this for you. It… it represents capriciousness which means having the quality of having sudden and unaccountable changes in behavior, because… I feel like that’s us and our relationship.”

 

Jisung takes the flower, a small smile on his face, “Thank you.”

 

It’s quiet for a beat too long, and Jisung is about to turn and leave when Hyunjin finally talks. “I’m really fucking sorry. I know I hurt you, I know and I’m sorry it took me so long to come to my senses and let go of my pride and apologize to you. I’m stupid, and you were right about everything, just like you always were.” He says, “And I’m willing to say I’m sorry to you everyday for the rest of my life if that’s what it’ll take to get you to forgive me.”

 

Jisung smiles again, “You don’t have to do that. I… I forgive you already.”

 

Hyunjin lights up. “Really?”

 

Jisung nods slowly, “I… I think that you’ve proved yourself. I mean, you looked up the meaning of a flower to give to me, when just three years ago you didn’t know the difference between roses and tulips.”

 

Hyunjin blushes, and Jisung continues, “I… I missed you a lot, and I’m willing to hear you out with this plan that you and Jiyoo created.”

 

-

 

Jisung sighs as he stares up at the church. Everything is decorated in white and pinks, and Jisung unconsciously reaches up and touches the pink carnation he has tucked into his suit pocket. He knows that Hyunjin has an identical one tucked into his own wherever he was currently.

 

Felix and Seungmin are standing beside him. “Are you ready?” Felix asks him, squeezing his hand.

 

Jisung lets out a shaky breath, “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

 

The trio enters the church and takes their seats in the middle of the rows. Jisung can see a woman whispering furiously to someone who was dressed as a waiter. (But Jisung is almost positive he’s  _ not _ a waiter.) Jisung makes eye contact with Chan, who had been certified to do the ceremony upon Hyunjin’s request. (All part of the plan.) Chan gives him a thumbs up and Jisung smiles back at him.

 

Seungmin puts a hand on his shoulder, “This is crazy, I can’t believe you’re actually going to do this.”

 

Jisung lets out  _ another _ shaky laugh. “Neither can I.”

 

The next twenty minutes pass in a blur, and it seems like in almost no time, Jisung is turning to watch Hyunjin walk down the aisle. He feels like his breath was ripped out of his lungs when he catches sight of him. His black hair was pushed back off his forehead, and the same pink carnation was in fact tucked into his suit pocket as well. Jisung catches his eye and they smile at each other. 

 

This was it.

 

The bridal march begins to play, and everyone turns to watch Jiyoo walk down the aisle. 

 

No one was there.

 

The doors were still shut, and everyone held the breath as the bridal march continues to play for what seems like much too long. 

 

No one shows up.

 

Finally, the doors open, but it’s not Jiyoo. Instead, it’s a bridesmaid standing there, breathing heavily, a note clutched in her hands. “Jiyoo ran away!” She cries, “With another lady!” and then she faints.

 

The room bursts into commotion and cries. “What are we going to do?!” Hyunjin’s mother exclaims as the bridesmaid is helped out of the room.

 

Among all the commotion, Jisung sneaks up to the front, and stands across from Hyunjin. Hyunjin takes his hand tightly, and smiles brightly at him. Chan taps a microphone, quickly bringing everyone’s attention back to the front.

 

There’s more cries of confusion as he begins to speak. “Ladies and gentlemen, we are gathered here today—”

 

“What is happening?!” Hyunjin’s father exclaims, “Stop this nonsense right this second!”

 

Chan doesn’t, however, and continues to speak. No one’s sure what to do. Neither of Hyunjin’s parents want to actually  _ interfere _ and possibly cause a scandal, and so it feels like everyone watches in shocked silence as Chan continues the ceremony.

 

“Han Jisung you are  _ eighteen _ , what are you doing?” His mother hisses, but Jisung pretends he didn’t hear her.

 

“Hwang Hyunjin, do you take Han Jisung to be your wedded husband?” Chan asks.

 

“I do, I do, I do,” Hyunjin says before anyone can cut him off.

 

A gasp flows through the room. “Hyunjin!” His mother exclaims.

 

“And do you, Han Jisung, take Hwang Hyunjin to be  _ your  _ wedded husband?” Chan continues.

 

“I do.” Jisung says just as quickly.

 

“No!” Hyunjin’s father cries.

 

“Then you may kiss the… husband.” Chan says, slamming his book closed.

 

Before anyone can do anything else, Hyunjin pulls Jisung closer, and kisses him like his life depended on it.

 

The room bursts into cheers and  _ more _ cries of confusion.

 

Hyunjin’s mother stands up as they pull away, “Will someone please tell me what is happening here?!”

 

Chan grins, “Hyunjin and Jisung are now married.” He says, “Saving a royal scandal about the bride who ran away to be with another woman.”

 

Hyunjin’s mother looks like she wants to protest, but doesn’t. Hyunjin’s father does, though, “This is not what we had planned! I want this marriage nulled right this instant!”

 

Chan fakes a dramatic gasp, “Oh! That’d be quite the headline!” He rubs his chin, “But I guess—”

 

Hyunjin’s mother holds up her hand, “We cannot afford that!” She tells her husband and he seems just as defeated as she did, “I… I guess, if it had to be  _ anyone _ , at least we know Jisung.” She says.

 

Hyunjin’s father takes a deep breath and then exhales, “I… I guess you’re right.”

 

The room erupts into more cheers and Hyunjin and Jisung grin at each other. The past four months, sneaking out past midnight, it was all worth it, with the rings on both of their middle fingers and the pink carnations hanging out of their suit pockets.

 

At the reception, both Felix and Seungmin give speeches that bring everyone to tears, and Felix collectively makes the entire room cry from laughter when he says that “Jisung, I always believed that you knew Hyunjin! You didn’t have to go to the extent of  _ marrying _ him to prove it t me!”

 

-

 

Felix and Seungmin get married three years later, with Hyunjin as Seungmin’s best man and Jisung as Felix’s. Jisung gets payback on Felix by telling the story of how Felix cried the first time he slept over, and Hyunjin talks about how he knew the two were perfect for each other the day he saw the way they looked at each other at Felix’s fifteenth birthday party.

 

-

 

Another year later, Hyunjin and Jisung are living in a small house at the bottom of the hill they grew up on, away from the rush and bustle of the actual house until Hyunjin is expected to take over for the king.

 

A knock at the door is a surprise to both of them, especially when they open it to just see a servant there with a letter for the duo. “This came for you!” He says before quickly scurrying away.

 

Hyunjin rips it open and both gasp in unison when they see what it is.

 

A wedding invitation. With a note that says, “ _ I’m not running away this time _ .”

 

**Author's Note:**

> song title is from 'what's it like' by pixie labrador


End file.
